Music Therapy in London and across the UK
Music is one of humanity’s oldest past times. One could even say it likely we communicated through music before words. There are even those in this world who spend their life as musical anthropologists or ethnomusicologists. Music is an instinct, but it is the cerebral experience we have developed that instinct into that makes us who we are.
We associate music with feelings and experiences, and that association can be electrifying to the synapses of the brain, especially for someone living with Dementia. The effects of Music Therapy on Dementia are profound, and there are so many initiatives going on within the London and UK community that you can get involved in. Here are two of our favourites.
Working alongside the Alzheimer’s Society in preparation for Simple Gifts has been an inspiring experience already. Vox Vanguard’s artistic director, Matthew Tosca, was very excited to hear about an internal initiative, strongly supported by Tim McLachlan (Director of Operations for Greater London), called Singing for the Brain.
The initiative takes a serious look at the effects of singing on the brain and its positive impacts.
On the other side of the spectrum is a more instinctual form of music therapy, improvisation. Musicians at the Manchester Camerata are using improvisation to enable self-expression and strip away dementia to reveal the person behind the illness, and they call their initiative Music in Mind Dementia.
Music in Mind has worked closely with the Alzheimer’s Society in the past, and they are a project we are closely following here at Harley Street Care. Find more information at www.ManchesterCamerata.co.uk.
We are unbelievably excited to be sharing in this great initiative, making music therapy a stronger and more accessible care for Dementia, by partnering with Vox Vanguard to produce Simple Gifts. We may even have some of our peers mentioned above in attendance, helping to share in our immersive musical experience on May 4th. Do investigate the Singing for the Brain and Music in Mind initiatives and come along to Simple Gifts, meet some influential and inspirational people within the community, give into instinct and share in humanity’s greatest past time.
